Karen Izayoi
Karen Izayoi (十六夜=カレン, Izayoi Karen) is a mercenary who works for an unspecified organization. Well, she attempts to be. Known as the mix of "a squirrel on cocaine and a diehard action hero", Karen's oddities have forced her to be shifted to a less adventurous position, as if to force her to cool her jets. Appearance Karen's figure is one of tremendous beauty; with long, flowing crimson hair which is splayed out in all directions at the ends, reaching down to her hips. Several large clumps of hair stick out, some curling away horizontally. Her bangs frame her face, though they have two 'layers', with the behind layers falling to rest upon her chest. There are a few locks of hair kept in the middle of her forehead, there is a slim curled forelock of hair at the top of her head. Her piercing emerald eyes glimmer in the sun. Karen is described as a "person who seems so gentle, yet rather scary at the same time". Personality and Traits Karen is a woman of oddness, a dishonest wildcard and a whimsical individual who, although knowing the basics of the modern era, does not seem to know about social norms. She has little regard for most beings, seeing them for their flaws, with Gai being one of the few exceptions. Karen also believes that she has the right to get whatever she wants and vehemently detests having to give something away if there's no benefit for her. However, she can become cunning, ruthless, and pragmatic if the situation requires. She will go to any length to ensure that she comes out the victor in anything that interests her, even going as far as to demand "a second round" constantly. Despite this, she is slothful and childish, due to the nature of her upbringing, as noted by Gai to be "erratic in her behaviour...I can't tell if she's just crazy or oblivious." She is usually friendly and cheerful to her friends, always being curious and not worrying much about things, though she subtly manipulates them at all times. She usually tries to raise the spirits of others, making her the mood maker of the group. She has problems reading the atmosphere in situations and just speaks out what comes to mind, sometimes making others surprised at her actions. Due to her upbringing, she knows nothing of the world or how to interact with others. During battle, Karen is prone to eccentricies like posing, pre-battle speeches and calling her attack names as loud as she can. Despite being a wacky and ditzy woman, Karen focuses only on "rewriting the wrongs of the universe". She has however been shown to repay debts to people, giving Gai the means to awaken his Devil Fruit's ability after he sealed it, though this is mainly because she wanted to use Gai as a tool in her quest at first. Karen has taken an interest in Gai in a slightly sly and teasing manner, and constantly throws him off balance with embarrassing remarks and actions, all while maintaining a poker face in the process, which results in her being constantly treated with suspicion by Gai, who calls her 'that devil woman'. She serves Gai as 'mission control', supplying him with new goals. She has taken a liking for popsicles, taking them whenever possible without second thought such as taking them from a cart and making Gai pay and scaring off children. One of her many eccentric hobbies is baking cakes, commonly birthday cakes often pulling an apron right over whatever she is wearing to do so. In fact, she has a very unsuitable oven kept in her office and built her office over a bakery. She usually has the other main characters eat the cakes she makes, whether they want to or not. She also has a strange intonation in her speech. Any items she has sent to others are normally refered to as 'presents' and wrapped up as such. History Synopsis Powers and Abilities Swordsmanship Karen is shown to be an exceptional swordsman. Always wielding her blade in her left hand, she shows no fear in the heat of battle, battling in a fluid manner and inflicting flawless blows upon her opponent. Her stance is similar to that of traditional Japanese dances, and her movements hammer this in even further. The speed at which she attack is noted by others to be incomprehensible, as she can inflict several blows upon her opponent in the blink of an eye. The deadliness of her skill is further expanded as she is able to infuse her Haki into her blade, amplifying the power of her strikes significantly. In terms of strikes, Karen prefers heavy, overhead strikes that would normally be easily telegraphed- however, due to her natural flawless speed, these blows are unleashed in the blink of an eye, and they are able to crack the earth ever-so-slightly beneath her if they touched the ground. She holds her blade in a reverse grip. Karen's primary battle style consists of very fast, wide backhanded strikes with herblade in quick succession to unleash deceptively effective blows, however, her single strikes aren't as powerful as Gai's clumsy and slow yet devastating two-handed strikes. Karen has claimed that she improvises with her techniques and swordplay style as she fights, having no definite origin. Karen is extremely graceful in battle, often utilizing elegant twirls, flips, and spins to gain an advantage over her opponent. Her sheer skill with anything shaped even remotely like a katana earned her the title of Kensei (剣聖, "Sword Saint"). Marksmanship Martial Arts Jeet Kune Do Karen utilizes a style created by none other than Bruce Lee, who inexplicibly doesn't exist in the One Piece world; the Jeet Kune Do. Jeet Kune Do is filled with non classical and straightforward movements. Due to the way this style works they believe in minimal movement with maximum effect and extreme speed. The system works on the use of different 'tools' for different situations. These situations are broken down into ranges (Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling), with techniques flowing smoothly between them. Unlike more traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned, and is a philosophy with guiding thoughts. In true Bruce Lee imitation fashion, she tends to make martial arts sounds like "Whatchaa" (ホワッチャーッ) whenever she fights. Gai even comments that "such sounds are irksome". Interrogation and Torture Expert Durability At the age of eleven, Karen had an Automatic Colt Pistol bullet stuck in her brain after being shot which, even to this day, causes her great pain at times, eventually escalating to the point that she will collapse during battles, causing her effectiveness to decrease gradually over time. This, coupled with her Devil Fruit's habit of rarely being able to be utilized, causes her to retire from fighting in the end of the storyline, choosing to live a peaceful life of selling ramen. Many opponents comment that this is Karen's only flaw; otherwise, she would be as stong as a Shichibukai. Relationships Trivia Category:Persona Superior Deus Category:Superhuman Strength Category:Superhuman Speed Category:Superhuman Endurance Category:Female Category:Mercenary